Crazy as Hell

"Crazy As Hell" is ER's Eriq LaSalle's directorial debut and it is a good one to watch. Although the movie did not receive much credits,I personally thought it was quite insightful entering the daunting world of a mental institution. Eric did a good job directing this rather uncomfortable topic and kept it up reasonably well as a provokative thriller.

The uncomfortable topic was how do we cure mental illness? It is generally accepted by the scientific world of today,that mental illness is a body of chemical imbalances. One cures it with medication-and lots of it(to be read as...keep the insane as sedated as the Law will permit you to!) How can we say anyone is cured,if they depend on chemicals by the hour? What happens if they missed a dosage-whether accidentally or purposely???

Crazy As Hell argues that other non-medicinal approaches may actually be the solution if we view mental illness as the imbalance of perspectives. Which means,therapy is the better permanent solution. Problem is,(you really have to see this movie for yourself)to be reminded of just how insane and derange most of the patients in a mental institution are. They are simply impossible to talk to,much less to be given therapy. The ones whom you can actually converse with,are so in their psychosis,before you can remotely attempt to cure them they will drive you nuts first! Because there is a good chance that anyone of us could lose a big chunk of our mental capacity is very frightening cause you'll never know what to expect(especially when dealing with mental patients in a funny farm,much less the faculty that works there too).

Only this movie and two others that had come this close to studies of mental patients,"Shock Corridor"(1963);"One Flew Over The Cuckcoo's Nest"-Oscar winner(1975),"Sybil"(1977)-Emmy winner,and most recently; "Girl Interrupted"-Oscar winner(2001)---this one gives a long hard look at goes on inside the minds of certain individuals,especially if they had the capacity to snap at any second.

The first thing that struck me about this film was how trite and over-simplified much of the subject matter was. At first it bothered me; the characters were pretty two-dimensional and the patients in the mental ward seemed very unrealistic. The whole movie took on a superficial and untrue feel that left me uninvolved and failed to suspend my disbelief. However, as the film goes on, you realize this may be on purpose. The film takes on a Lynch-ian feel that culminates in an ending that clearly explains why everything was so simple, shallow, and "perfect". I appreciate Eriq for not shoving the ending down our throat. He is obviously talented and deserves recognition for following through with a film that failed to get support from Hollywood because it isn't a cookie-cutter re-make of the films that Black film-makers continue to crank out. On the other hand, the story wasn't particularly unique either. It very much reminded me of a low-budget "Jacob's Ladder" with a simpler story-line and much more limited production resources. Eriq LaSalle is a great human being with enormous talent and, more importantly, a great perspective on what is important in life. He isn't quite willing to play into the Hollywood system, and although you couldn't tell from this film, he seems to understand the powerful role his artform can play in lifting up (or keeping down) his people. I respect him immensely and I expect great things from him in the future.

I'd never heard of "Crazy As Hell" before seeing it, but I watched it on a whim. It was entertaining enough to keep my attention, but I was kind of waiting for it to end. The film just lacked intensity, which was odd considering the subject matter. Sadly, it just kind of dragged and not a whole lot happened. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode that was stretched into a two hour film. And, like many old Twilight Zone episodes, it dealt with a very one-dimensional character with a painfully obvious character flaw (in this case: arrogance/ego). Our main character isn't all that likable and doesn't seem to have anything at stake, so why should I care what happens to him? There are a lot of not-so-subtle clues and symbols. Oddly, many of them seemed like plot flaws and turned out to be intentional later on. For example (without giving anything away) in first scene, Ty stops his car then back up and accidentally backs his car over a glass bottle right behind his tire - why didn't he run it over it when he first pulled up? I dismissed this as a movie mistake, but it actually made sense in retrospect. Like a lot of the movie, it was so simple and obvious that I actually DIDN'T notice it.

There were parts of this film which I did not like at all, because of the initial portrayal of the hospital and the patients. I worked Psych for 9 years and there were some scenes that were true to life, but overall, they were played for shock/humour. Having said this, I was distracted from these shortcomings by the excellent acting of the entire cast and when Mr.La Salle and Mr. Beach encounter each other, the sparks fly. I had no idea where the film was going but I was glad for the ride; these two guys display their talents and there is no doubt that you are seeing two masters at work. Some of the characters seemed superfluous to me, but the author did also write the screen play so I'll assume that he knew what he was doing (Big of me, don't you think?) I didn't care for the ending,and frankly, I thought it was an unoriginal cop-out, but the lead up to it - the chase, the revelation, made it bearable. Also, is there anything Ronnie Cox can't do?

***SPOILERS*** Early in "Crazy as Hell" the head nurse of the Sedah State Mental Hospital where the movie takes place Nurse Danza, Jane Carr, is asked by the head doctor there Dr. Ty Adams, Michael Beach, what she would ask "The Devil" if she ever had the chance to talk to him. Nurse Danza said the following statement that was absolutely stunning: "I'd ask him why he spends his time punishing those that he's supposed to adore to make a point to a God that he's supposed to despise?". The same statement, word for word, is later said by non other the "The Man" or "The Devil" himself to Dr. Adams. This started to make me feel that I wasn't watching some light comedy, about "The Devil", but a very serious and penetrating movie about a subject that has been on the minds of great thinkers since the dawn of recored history.

"Crazy as Hell" comes full-circle when it reaches it's climax. By that time I wasn't at all disappointed in what I saw in the film. Even though at first I didn't at all expect to see it when the movie started. Dr. Adams is invited to be the head psychiatrist, where there's to be made a documentary on his work on curing mental illness, at the Sedah State Mental Hospitle for a month. This is to use his ground breaking theories of curing those that are mentally ill without the use of mind-altering drugs or strong medication, like shock treatment.

At first Dr. Adams' methods work as he seems to cure one of the most psychotic patients at the hospital Cheryl, Tracy Pettit,from her self-destructive actions with out the use of drugs, which up to that time had little effect on her. As Dr. Adams starts to settle down and get into the swing of things in the hospital all of a sudden a person appears there as a new patient calling himself "The Man" or what he's better known as to us "The Devil" Eriq La Salle. From then on it's all down hill for the good doctor.

Dr. Adams is told by "The Devil" that he's really upset because of all the bad press that he's been receiving over the last thousands of years. He wants to set the record straight about himself and wants Dr. Adams to help him in that endeavor. At first Dr. Adams thinks that "The Man" is just a harmless eccentric. Later he sees that he knows a lot more about his past and background that he'll willing to talk about with "The Man" or anyone else.

"The Man" gets so under Dr.Adams skin that one afternoon at a picnic in the park with the other patients he loses it and almost comes to blows with him. Slowly Dr. Adams starts to lose his grip on reality to the point where he talks to his both deceased wife and daughter Veda & Brianna,Shelly Robertson & Khylan Jones. This strange conversation by Dr. Adams is picked up on video tape and, after seeing it, makes the administrator of the hospital Dr. Delazo, Ronny Cox, think that Dr. Adams needs to be treated for mental and psychological trauma himself.

Feeling very hostile toward his patient, which is very unprofessional for a doctor, Dr. Adams now drops his non-orthodox methods in regard to "The Man" and has him put on strong drugs and put in a padded cell and in a straight-jacker for 24 hours. Unknown to him "the Man" has a big surprise for Dr.Adams. When it finally comes it's going to shock him back to where the movie started when his troubles with "The Man" was just beginning.

Different yet vastly superior movie about "The Devil" and how he operates here on earth and in his underground kingdom. Michael Beach is very sympathetic in his role as the troubled Dr.Adams who's sparring with "The Devil" during the movie brings the best out of "The Devil" and the worst out of him which was "The Devil's" plan all along. The end of the movie was both sad and shocking when we, as well as Dr. Adams, see the "Grand Plan" that "The Devil" set into motion for Dr. Adams. It reveled the most darkest secrets that Dr. Adams was hiding from himself, and everyone else, that he kept hidden deep in his sad and troubled soul.

Eriq La Salle was both fascinating and scary as the sharp and witty Devil and played his part as the "Man from Hell" to the hilt. The scene at the picnic with the confrontation between "The Man" and Dr. Adams showed for the first time the other side of the coin of Dr. Adams cool clam and collective personality. As he lost his cool and ended up as crazy, if not more so, then the patients that he was treating.